Frisby

ORDER GRANTING WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner Albert Frisby was inducted into the United States Army on June 8, 1970. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he was sent to Fort Ord, California, for advanced infantry training. He then applied for conscientious objector status with the provision that he would continue in the Army as a non-combatant. This application was approved in early December, 1970. Petitioner, in the meantime, had determined that his convictions would not permit serving the military in any capacity, so he applied for an outright discharge under AR 635-450. The denial of this second application presents the Court with issues which, for all the frequency with which they come before the judiciary, have yet to be clearly resolved.

The task of the Court in reviewing a denial of an in-service conscientious objector application is to determine (1) if the application stated a prima facie case for the status requested; (2) if the application was handled in a procedurally correct manner; (3) if legally adequate reasons were stated for the denial of the request; and (4) if there was a “basis in fact” supporting the reasons given. 1

No one contests the…